The stakes will be high in Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday when Wake Forest and Duke take the field in search of their first conference wins. The contest marks a rematch of last year's thrilling classic in Winston-Salem, when the Deacons defeated Duke 28-26.
Although Duke holds the nation's longest losing streak, Duke coach Carl Franks remains confident in his team's ability.
"Since we've played [a very hard schedule] it's made us a tougher team," Franks said. "But you've got to maintain your enthusiasm through all those tough teams. I think we've done that."
Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe is not taking Duke lightly, either.
"I don't see a lot of differences in any of the teams in the ACC." Grobe said. "Duke is like every one else in the ACC. They have a lot of talent."
After winning its first two games of the season over East Carolina and Appalachian State, Wake Forest has developed its own losing streak with consecutive losses to Maryland, Florida State, and N.C. State.
The Demon Deacons use two quarterbacks--each with his own contrasting style. Junior James MacPherson is the traditional drop back passing quarterback, while sophomore
"We'll definitely gear differently depending on which quarterback is in there," Duke linebacker and reigning ACC co-defensive back of the week Ryan Fowler said. "When Young is in there, we'll prepare for the run. When MacPherson is in the game, we'll prepare for the pass."
In addition to Young's running prowess, Wake Forest's ground attack has tended to be its greatest asset during this season.
The team ranks second in the ACC in rushing, and running back Tarence Williams is second in the conference among individual rushers.
"When Young is in the game, you've got an extra running back in the back field," Franks said. "He's extremely tough to tackle."
Despite the daunting task of stopping the Deacons' running game, the Blue Devils feels prepared, in part because of Fowler's emerging presence in the secondary. Fowler had a phenomenal games, with 17 tackles and an interception in last week's loss to Georgia Tech. His tackle total for the season has reached 68, to go along with his two interceptions.
Franks has nothing but compliments for the sophomore.
"He's played solid games. He's tackled well," the third-year coach said. "That's something we worked on last year. He's certainly one of our best players."
While Duke's defense prepares for Wake's impressive running ability, Duke's offense is trying to work out its own myriad problems.
The Blue Devils are averaging barely 10 points a game, but the future looks brighter.
"Our guys are working hard and they know they have to practice the way they are going to play." Franks said. "The tempo of practice has gone better. We've had some more live work in practice. We've had a lot of completetion in practice, which inspires everyone. We need to carry what we've done on the practice field onto the game field."
Despite his good feeling about the team's effort in practice, Franks continues to worry about the offense's consistency.
"We've been able to play well for halves." Franks said. "We need to do it for the whole game. We need to carry the things we've learned from these tough teams [into this week's game]."
All in all, Duke feels confident that it will get its first win of the season.
"Bet on Duke." Fowler said.
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